Conventionally, there is a tandem large capacity feeder (hereinafter referred to as tandem LCF) as one of large capacity paper feeding apparatuses in which sheet bundles to be fed can be horizontally stacked side by side. The tandem LCF has the structure including, in the inside of one paper feeding apparatus, two trays that store two sheet bundles.
In the tandem LCF, paper feeding mechanisms that respectively discharge sheets to trays on which sheet bundles are stacked in the inside of a paper feeding apparatus are provided. In the tandem LCF having such plural paper feeding mechanisms, there are problems of an increase in size of the paper feeding apparatus, a decrease in a stacking amount of sheet bundles stored in the paper feeding apparatus, and manufacturing cost.
Another tandem LCF in the past has the structure in which a paper feeding mechanism is provided for only one of trays on which a sheet bundle is stacked. As shown in FIGS. 27 to 30, in such a tandem LCF, when a sheet bundle stacked on a first tray 901 for which the paper feeding mechanism is exhausted, a sheet bundle P stacked on a second tray 902 is transferred to the first tray 901.
However, when the sheet bundle P stacked on the second tray 902 is transferred to the first tray 901 provided in the paper feeding mechanism, as shown in FIG. 28, the second tray 902 is moved to a position above the first tray 901. The second tray 902 on which the sheet bundle P is stacked is once lowered after the second tray 902 reaches the first tray 901 as shown in FIG. 29. As shown in FIG. 30, the second tray 902 returns to an original predetermined position after the sheet bundle P is transferred to the first tray 901.
Therefore, a configuration of the tandem LCF is complicated. In order to realize such a configuration, the tandem LCF requires spaces in both a height direction and a horizontal direction. Since a large number of sheets are stacked on the second tray 902, the second tray is required not to hang down because of the weight of the sheet bundle P. Therefore, rollers are arranged on a lower surface of the second tray 902. The second tray 902 moves to the first tray 901 side along a rail. The second tray 902 lowers the sheet bundle P in order to transfer the sheet bundle P to the first tray 901. In lowering the sheet bundle P, since the rollers are obstacles, it is necessary to permit the rollers to escape. Therefore, such a tandem LCF has problems in terms of cost and spaces.
In order to prevent the second tray 902 to hang down, even when the second tray 902 and a holding section are firmly fixed, the problems in cost and spaces are inevitable.
Therefore, the present invention provides a sheet conveying apparatus that can smoothly transfer a sheet bundle in the tandem LCF.